So the Civic catch can is designed to keep the valves clean?
Mishimoto’s 2016+ Honda Civic 1.5L Turbo Catch Can Development
7
2016+ Honda Civic 1.5L T Catch Can R&D, Part 1: Design and Fabrication
We have been searching long and hard to get our hands on the new Honda Civic, and the search is now over! A brand new 2016+ Honda Civic equipped with the 1.5L Turbo engine has finally reached our R&D facility, thanks to a very generous owner. One of our first targeted projects is an oil catch can. There are many benefits to equipping a vehicle with a catch can. Modern fuel injection is accomplished by either port or direct injection, the latter used by this Civic. Let’s briefly talk about the differences between the two.
Port vs. Direct Injection
With port injection, the fuel injectors are situated right inside the intake manifold, producing a fuel stream to mix with the air. That air/fuel mixture is shot straight into the combustion chamber through a valve. As the fuel passes through the valve area, much of the debris gets cleaned off – because as we all know, gasoline is an excellent solvent.
Direct injection, however, is the more common approach for new engines. This system places the injector inside the combustion chamber. Here, fuel doesn’t reach the valves as it does through port injection, so the valves don’t get cleaned, which leads to valve deposits. You would think that on a brand new car such as this Civic, valve deposits won’t be an issue, but this debris can accumulate rapidly. The main culprits are the oil and fuel vapors that get vented into the intake via positive crankcase ventilation and crankcase ventilation valves – the PCV and CCV systems. For emissions reasons, these vapors get routed back into the intake, but that is not where those vapors should end up, as they hinder performance and cause buildup. Catch cans reduce the amount of oil your intake tract sees, and it’s beneficial to do this at an earlier stage in the engine’s life as it helps keep your valves clean longer down the road.
Stock System
Now we can dive right into the development of our Civic catch can. Below are some shots of the overall system we intend will use to model our catch can. The stock hoses have been removed and the exposed ports are circled in red.
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If you look closely at the above images you can see the two ports without hoses attached; we will use these ports we will use for our catch can. The unattached port on the right is the PCV tube. Check out a few more images below.
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That yellow object behind the block is the actual PCV valve. A majority of cars have this assembly located inside one of the ventilation hoses.
Fabrication and Design
Now that we have located our hose connection points for this Civic catch can, which was the hard part, it’s time to begin fabricating a bracket. Our engineers have an awesome tool called a waterjet that uses high-pressure water and an abrasive material to cut almost anything imaginable that they want to design, aided by a computer program. This piece will be made out of steel.
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After some cleaning and bending, this bracket is ready to go! We will be using our dual-port baffled catch can with a maximum capacity of two ounces. Our catch can was designed to trap practically all of the blow-by produced that would make its way back to the intake. These cans have internal air diverters to help direct airflow as well as a 50 micron bronze filter to prevent any thing escaping back into the intake. Check it out below!
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What’s Next?
We still need to design hoses that will route oil byproduct from the engine to the catch can. Stay tuned for the next update; it will be very soon!
Thanks for reading!
We have been searching long and hard to get our hands on the new Honda Civic, and the search is now over! A brand new 2016+ Honda Civic equipped with the 1.5L Turbo engine has finally reached our R&D facility, thanks to a very generous owner. One of our first targeted projects is an oil catch can. There are many benefits to equipping a vehicle with a catch can. Modern fuel injection is accomplished by either port or direct injection, the latter used by this Civic. Let’s briefly talk about the differences between the two.
Port vs. Direct Injection
With port injection, the fuel injectors are situated right inside the intake manifold, producing a fuel stream to mix with the air. That air/fuel mixture is shot straight into the combustion chamber through a valve. As the fuel passes through the valve area, much of the debris gets cleaned off – because as we all know, gasoline is an excellent solvent.
Direct injection, however, is the more common approach for new engines. This system places the injector inside the combustion chamber. Here, fuel doesn’t reach the valves as it does through port injection, so the valves don’t get cleaned, which leads to valve deposits. You would think that on a brand new car such as this Civic, valve deposits won’t be an issue, but this debris can accumulate rapidly. The main culprits are the oil and fuel vapors that get vented into the intake via positive crankcase ventilation and crankcase ventilation valves – the PCV and CCV systems. For emissions reasons, these vapors get routed back into the intake, but that is not where those vapors should end up, as they hinder performance and cause buildup. Catch cans reduce the amount of oil your intake tract sees, and it’s beneficial to do this at an earlier stage in the engine’s life as it helps keep your valves clean longer down the road.
Stock System
Now we can dive right into the development of our Civic catch can. Below are some shots of the overall system we intend will use to model our catch can. The stock hoses have been removed and the exposed ports are circled in red.
If you look closely at the above images you can see the two ports without hoses attached; we will use these ports we will use for our catch can. The unattached port on the right is the PCV tube. Check out a few more images below.
That yellow object behind the block is the actual PCV valve. A majority of cars have this assembly located inside one of the ventilation hoses.
Fabrication and Design
Now that we have located our hose connection points for this Civic catch can, which was the hard part, it’s time to begin fabricating a bracket. Our engineers have an awesome tool called a waterjet that uses high-pressure water and an abrasive material to cut almost anything imaginable that they want to design, aided by a computer program. This piece will be made out of steel.
After some cleaning and bending, this bracket is ready to go! We will be using our dual-port baffled catch can with a maximum capacity of two ounces. Our catch can was designed to trap practically all of the blow-by produced that would make its way back to the intake. These cans have internal air diverters to help direct airflow as well as a 50 micron bronze filter to prevent any thing escaping back into the intake. Check it out below!
What’s Next?
We still need to design hoses that will route oil byproduct from the engine to the catch can. Stay tuned for the next update; it will be very soon!
Thanks for reading!
1 - 20 of 76 Posts
4
2016+ Honda Civic 1.5L T Catch Can R&D: Our Catch Can
Before we go any further into our oil catch can development for this new Civic, we think it’s important to dive into the inner workings of how our catch can really works. We have developed a very unique catch can with features that will keep your engine components in better overall shape for the long run.
In the last post, we discussed the differences between port and direct injection and why it was important to distinguish between the two. So we know how the oil gets into your intake tract and can soil your valves. How are our catch cans so good at preventing a lot of that from happening?
Catch Can Features and Components
There are a few things that stand out in our catch can design. One of the primary benefits is our internal baffling. In most catch cans, there is a wad of steel wool that condenses the oil vapors. With baffling, we increase internal surface area which gives more locations for the oil to condense. The baffling also prevents any oil from splashing back up against the filter, just like how there is baffling in your fuel tank.
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The silver plate with holes on the top is the baffling. That is where the oil will condense once the vapors make their way into the can. The next step was finding a suitable filter that would effectively separate the air and oil.
We also include an air diverter in the lid that promotes air turbulence. This helps with the separation. In the past, testing has shown that adding this feature gives a positive impact on air turbulence within the can and this helps our product perform even better.
For our filter, we tested multiple options and determined that a 50 micron bronze filter was the best option. Out of the other options we tried, this choice did the best job ensuring that clean air is the only thing leaving the catch can, which is a significant part of the vapor filtration. It is a completely serviceable filter and really easy to clean, so this takes away the need to replace anything! Check out an image below of the top half of one of our catch can lids showing a clearer shots of the filter and the air diverter.
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How does the can actually fill up? We will be using a dual port can which are for entry and exit. In the Civic, air enters the can by way of PCV hose, gets filtered and then goes back to the intake tract. The can keeps that air free of any fuel or oil vapor.
So Does It Actually Work?
Of course! In fact, let us have a look at one of our previous projects. We developed a direct fit catch can for the 2014+ Ford Fiesta ST equipped with a 1.6L turbocharged engine. Check out below how much oil we were able to catch from the PCV side after only a few hundred miles.
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We also have a direct fit can for the 2015 Mustang GT. During our development of that product, we were able to get a good amount of oil from the PCV system. Check out what we were able to catch after just 1000 miles on our 2015 Ford Mustang GT below.
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We let the can sit on top of the beaker for a while to allow as much oil to come out as possible. There was a total of 20 ml, or about 0.68 ounces! This is roughly a 1/3 of the can’s capacity, so it is very effective. As a matter of fact, in both cars, the intake tract would have been coated with this gunk, which would have eventually made its way to the valves. Not good!
Now yes, these are two pretty different cars from the new Honda Civic and results could vary by a lot, but this is just to show you that oil catch cans can certainly help, and these are great examples of that!
We’d love to hear your thoughts on how we designed our can. The catch can for the Civic is just about ready to go on the car, so please stay tuned for the next update as we fit our prototype on our Civic.
Thanks for reading!
Before we go any further into our oil catch can development for this new Civic, we think it’s important to dive into the inner workings of how our catch can really works. We have developed a very unique catch can with features that will keep your engine components in better overall shape for the long run.
In the last post, we discussed the differences between port and direct injection and why it was important to distinguish between the two. So we know how the oil gets into your intake tract and can soil your valves. How are our catch cans so good at preventing a lot of that from happening?
Catch Can Features and Components
There are a few things that stand out in our catch can design. One of the primary benefits is our internal baffling. In most catch cans, there is a wad of steel wool that condenses the oil vapors. With baffling, we increase internal surface area which gives more locations for the oil to condense. The baffling also prevents any oil from splashing back up against the filter, just like how there is baffling in your fuel tank.
The silver plate with holes on the top is the baffling. That is where the oil will condense once the vapors make their way into the can. The next step was finding a suitable filter that would effectively separate the air and oil.
We also include an air diverter in the lid that promotes air turbulence. This helps with the separation. In the past, testing has shown that adding this feature gives a positive impact on air turbulence within the can and this helps our product perform even better.
For our filter, we tested multiple options and determined that a 50 micron bronze filter was the best option. Out of the other options we tried, this choice did the best job ensuring that clean air is the only thing leaving the catch can, which is a significant part of the vapor filtration. It is a completely serviceable filter and really easy to clean, so this takes away the need to replace anything! Check out an image below of the top half of one of our catch can lids showing a clearer shots of the filter and the air diverter.
How does the can actually fill up? We will be using a dual port can which are for entry and exit. In the Civic, air enters the can by way of PCV hose, gets filtered and then goes back to the intake tract. The can keeps that air free of any fuel or oil vapor.
So Does It Actually Work?
Of course! In fact, let us have a look at one of our previous projects. We developed a direct fit catch can for the 2014+ Ford Fiesta ST equipped with a 1.6L turbocharged engine. Check out below how much oil we were able to catch from the PCV side after only a few hundred miles.
We also have a direct fit can for the 2015 Mustang GT. During our development of that product, we were able to get a good amount of oil from the PCV system. Check out what we were able to catch after just 1000 miles on our 2015 Ford Mustang GT below.
We let the can sit on top of the beaker for a while to allow as much oil to come out as possible. There was a total of 20 ml, or about 0.68 ounces! This is roughly a 1/3 of the can’s capacity, so it is very effective. As a matter of fact, in both cars, the intake tract would have been coated with this gunk, which would have eventually made its way to the valves. Not good!
Now yes, these are two pretty different cars from the new Honda Civic and results could vary by a lot, but this is just to show you that oil catch cans can certainly help, and these are great examples of that!
We’d love to hear your thoughts on how we designed our can. The catch can for the Civic is just about ready to go on the car, so please stay tuned for the next update as we fit our prototype on our Civic.
Thanks for reading!
7
2016+ Honda Civic 1.5L T Catch Can R&D, Part 2: Prototype Fitment
We are moving fast with this project! We have now talked about the differences and significance between two types of fuel injection, evaluated the stock system and began designing a bracket with our neat waterjet. We have also dived into the specifics of how our catch can works. Now, we have a working prototype that we have mounted onto our loaner Civic.
We decided to go ahead and use the open space right behind passenger side of the motor that would conveniently place our catch can around the PCV ports. This will lighten any complexities in the hose routing.
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The bracket has been fabricated so all we needed to do was give it a little bit of paint to match the color of our can.
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Our prototype design will have the bracket attach directly behind the pictured bracket that is holding an oil line. Check it out installed below!
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That just about does it for the design process for our catch can! Here is one more view of it installed in the bay!
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What’s Next?
Now that we have a working prototype on the car, we will be launching a presale very soon so we can get this kit on the market. Details are on the horizon.
As always, thanks for reading!
We are moving fast with this project! We have now talked about the differences and significance between two types of fuel injection, evaluated the stock system and began designing a bracket with our neat waterjet. We have also dived into the specifics of how our catch can works. Now, we have a working prototype that we have mounted onto our loaner Civic.
We decided to go ahead and use the open space right behind passenger side of the motor that would conveniently place our catch can around the PCV ports. This will lighten any complexities in the hose routing.
The bracket has been fabricated so all we needed to do was give it a little bit of paint to match the color of our can.
Our prototype design will have the bracket attach directly behind the pictured bracket that is holding an oil line. Check it out installed below!
That just about does it for the design process for our catch can! Here is one more view of it installed in the bay!
What’s Next?
Now that we have a working prototype on the car, we will be launching a presale very soon so we can get this kit on the market. Details are on the horizon.
As always, thanks for reading!
1 - 20 of 76 Posts
